


Episode 19: Rewrite Edition!

by TomoXKaguraLover229



Category: Azumanga Daioh
Genre: Alternate Canon, Best Friends, Character Study, Coming Out, Conversations, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Nonbinary Character, Poor Tomo, Spring night, non-binary!Tomo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27686267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomoXKaguraLover229/pseuds/TomoXKaguraLover229
Summary: One spring night, Tomo tells Yomi the truth about her living conditions
Relationships: Mizuhara "Yomi" Koyomi/Takino Tomo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Episode 19 of Azumanga Daioh. The only filler episode of this amazing series and it shows. Some fans like the darker tone of the episode, others hate for being out of place in a comedy slice-of-life show, and some have the feeling of "meh" when watching it. I think that the episode's good, but the scene with Tomo and Yomi needs some work. So, I rewrite it.

It was a nice spring night; cherry blossom petals flying with the wind. Yomi was studying in her bedroom when she heard a knock on the window. Of course, it was Tomo as always. 

“Hello there, Yomi,” Tomo said, entering Yomi’s bedroom and laying on the bedroom.

“What brings you here?” Yomi asked the wildcat, who is oddly calm and melancholic. 

“Dad, he’s drunk again. I have to run away from home again before he…” Tomo became silent, trying to suspense the thought of her father beating her up as always. 

“Before he does what?”

“Nevermind Yomi. So, do you remember Kagura saying that we have so much freedom?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“What did she mean by that?”

“I think she means that unlike her, we have more opportunities for our futures. Kagura’s future is already set in stone. Ours isn’t. But, I somewhat envy Kagura for having a set goal in life.”

“What about your diets, Yomi?”

“The diets are more for controlling my eating disorder. They’re not my main goal in life.”

“Then, what are they, Yomi? What you’re going to be when you grow up?”

“A regular businesswoman. What about you, Tomo?”

“I’m going to be a policewoman when I grow up. I don’t want people to end up just like dad. And I don’t want others to suffer the same fate as me. Being called useless, nobody, and… and…” Tomo paused again, still thinking about her father.

“And what, Tomo?”

“Yomi, I think it’s time to tell you why I’m so annoying to you and everybody else. After my mother died, my father went insane. He took drugs and started to drink a lot. He started to call me and my siblings ‘worthless pieces of shit’. He beats us up when he feels like it. My older sister and brother managed to move away from him, hoping to never see him again. My twin sister, younger brother, and I decided to live with my older sister, but dad wanted me to stay with him. They escaped, I didn’t. His words and actions caused me to develop an inferiority complex. I don’t want people to call me a ‘nobody’, so I tried to make myself more relevant. But that backfired, so I try harder.”

Yomi was shocked. Tomo? Abused? That’s messed up on so many levels.

“You were a source of peace for me, Yomi,” Tomo continued, “During the last years of elementary and all of middle school, you’re the comfort I needed. But in high school, I felt happy. I got so many new friends that like me. And Yukari-chan’s like the mother I never will have. But, I still live with my father, so I always come to your house whenever he goes out to drink.”

“I understand everything now, Tomo. I won’t let any abusive person, even if they’re related to you, hurt you. Now, you better get some rest. Tomorrow’s a school day and you don’t Kurosawa-sensei shouting at you for sleeping in class.” 

Yomi then got the bed with Tomo, cuddling the small teen and falling into a deep sleep. Tomo meanwhile, felt secure in Yomi’s arms. She was remembering the time where her mother cuddles her to sleep when she was a baby, and now, her best friend is giving her the same treatment. The wildcat idiot yawned before she goes to sleep.


	2. Bonus Chapter: Coming Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm writing this bonus chapter just to make the story feel more complete, more satisfying. I'm still keeping the first story. I'm just giving this story a fresh coat of paint.

During the middle of the night, Yomi felt that her arms are empty. She noticed that Tomo was gone, and she went outside to find her. The bespectacled girl then found her childhood friend sitting underneath a cherry tree, crying to herself.

"Tomo, what is it this time?" Yomi asked the short teen.

"Yomi," Tomo weakly mewled, "Am I a boy or a girl?"

"Why are you asking me that question?"

Tomo then sighed, "Lately, I've been thinking about my gender. I mean, I'm biologically a girl, but I do much more boyish stuff. You know, pulling pranks, wearing boyish clothes, hanging out with Kagura, looking at Kagura's big honking jugs..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know about that."

"But, I also like shopping for clothes, having bigger breasts, loving Lupin- GYAH! I can't be one gender or the other! Why can't I be both?!"

Yomi smiled and hugged her girlfriend, "Tomo, I don't care if you're a boy or a girl. You're still the same Tomo I know and love."

"So, can I be both a boy and a girl?"

"Sure, Tomo," Yomi then noticed that Tomo was giving her a pair of scissors, "Tomo, why are you giving me a pair of scissors?"

"Yomi, please cut my hair. I want to change my image. I don't want to be like Fujiko. I want to be myself!"

And Yomi did just that, cutting Tomo's hair up to ear length. The cut strands of hair then flew in the wind with the cherry blossom petals. Tomo was no longer just a girl, she's now both a boy and a girl.

* * *

The following week- the beginning of the third and final year of high school- Tomo and Yomi were at the shoe cubbies, putting their inside shoes on.

"Geez, I wonder how Chiyosuke and the rest of our friends will react when they find out that I'm now non-binary!" Tomo told their friend.

Yomi's glasses then fogged up, "Oh, we won't tell them during class," she said, "You'll just say that you're mimicking Ayu-chan's look for this year, and I'll just go along with it."

Tomo was shocked, "Yomi, that's-" They then grinned like they are putting some mustard into somebody's socks, "Absolutely perfect!"

The two friends then laughed as they got into the main building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, leave some comments and kudos, and bookmark it.

**Author's Note:**

> And the episode finally makes sense. Finally, the AzuDai fandom doesn't go to war with each other, the Tomo/Yomi shippers are pleased, peace is restored, and I somehow averted death from Chiyo-chichi!


End file.
